Renegade Thread Play

Renegade Thread Play is a fun and easy way to sketch and blend colors with thread. It’s a great way to add shading and highlights. The end result is a wonderfully layered look that gives amazing depth to your quilting. Those who are new to free-motion quilting and experienced quilters alike will learn many helpful tips from Melinda Bula who has won numerous awards using this striking technique. Build your skills on a practice quilt sandwich and then make your own contest-worthy quilt with the free pattern included with the class. For your convenience, this class can be purchased for online viewing or purchased on DVD.

Experience precision with pizzazz! Your creations aren’t boring, and your rotary cutter shouldn’t be either. That’s why Olfa introduced the new Splash rotary cutter. The vibrant purple handle is contoured for comfortable cutting, and integrated grooves at the head of the cutter help prevent finger slippage. The quick blade change feature means you simply slide the blade-lock down to release the old blade, load the new blade, and re-secure the blade-lock to begin cutting again. There is a blade cover for additional safety. It includes and fits a RB45 blade.

Member Price:$14.36

Members Save:$3.59

Regular Price:$17.95

#12083 - Cutting mat

Double-sided Cutting Mat

Double-sided, self-healing cutting mat is 22″x16″ on one side, 570×420 millimeters on the other. A high-quality, sturdy mat with proven long-lasting endurance.

This 100% wooly felted ironing mat from Wooly Felted Wonders is 17″ square. The dense wool absorbs the heat so it is like pressing your blocks from both sides. This ½” thick mat is perfect for ironing pieced and embroidered blocks, and knitting projects such as socks, mittens, and hats. It is also portable and easy to carry. The corners are rounded to minimize wear and tear. Made in the USA.

Member Price:$51.96

Members Save:$12.99

Regular Price:$64.95

#12505 - Seam ripper

Clover Seam Ripper

Sometimes we must unsew. Do it right with Clover’s Seam Ripper! Works well on buttonholes, too.

Member Price:$3.96

Members Save:$0.99

Regular Price:$4.95

Marking Tools:

#10716 - White chalk pencil

Clover Water Soluble Pencil

A water soluble pencil for precise fine markings that can be easily wiped off with water. White.

Member Price:$3.96

Members Save:$0.99

Regular Price:$4.95

Sharpie® ultra fine point marker

Cutting Tools:

#10701 - Curved-tip snips

Snip-Eze Embroidery Scissors

Time for the only snips you’ll ever need! The 4 ¾” Snip-Eze Embroidery Scissors are a sewing enthusiast’s must-have tool for snipping threads fast and clean. Lightweight, convenient and easy to use, these gentle, squeeze action snips are perfect for tired or arthritic hands. Features include a curved tip for precise snipping that fits nicely under the pressure foot, impeccably sharp blades that are ideal for hand or machine embroidery, and a safety cap that protects both the snips and your hands. Get your hands on a pair today!

Member Price:$14.36

Members Save:$3.59

Regular Price:$17.95

Scissors for paper

#6402 - Scissors for fabric

Karen Kay Buckley’s Perfect 7½” Scissors

The blades of Karen Kay Buckley’s Perfect 7½” scissors are sharp to the very tip, with a soft grip handle and a plastic protective cover. One blade is micro-serrated and one is a regular blade which can be sharpened. The serrated blade pulls the fabric into the scissors rather than pushing it away like traditional scissors. Easy for right- or left-handed users in a great size for cutting single or multiple layers of fabric.

Member Price:$23.96

Members Save:$5.99

Regular Price:$29.95

Other Supplies:

Several extra bobbins

Lickity Grip or quilting gloves

Sewers Aid

Tracing paper

#4672 - Wonder clips

Wonder Clips

Wonder Clips allow you to hold layers of fabric in place for sewing, quilting and more. These mini fabric clips offer a firm grasp and are safe to use…they don’t prick or pierce like pins. The flat clip base is easy to use while feeding the fabric into the presser foot.

Member Price:$6.36

Members Save:$1.59

Regular Price:$7.95

Lint roller

Spray bottle with water

Optional:

Extension table

Strips of cardboard

Duct tape

Stitch regulator

Design wall

What will I need in order to do the things Melinda is doing?

Really, the biggest thing is to convince yourself that you can do what she is doing. Melinda’s teaching style is very encouraging because she knows that once you face your fears, you can tackle just about anything. It is also important to have a basic working knowledge of your sewing machine. Beyond that, gather some thread, cozy up to your machine and practice quilt, and turn on the lessons. As you practice the content of this class, we feel confident that you will want to use this technique to add quilting depth to many of your quilting projects.

Will I learn specific stitches?

Melinda shows how to make various stitches on the practice quilt. She also covers things that challenge us in free-motion quilting like hand placement, controlling the fabric as it moves underneath the needle, and tension.

What if I have questions?

We recommend that you watch the class in its entirety and become familiar with the downloadable materials. At that point, if something is unclear, go to the tab that allows you to ask a question and Melinda will get back with you via email. Please do not contact iquilt instructors by telephone.

When can I start the class?

We know you are excited to get started. After you have purchased the class, you can enjoy it anywhere and anytime you have the Internet. The class belongs to you, so watch it as many times as you like!

Instructor Gallery

Student Gallery

Janet Smith – October 15, 2018:

Not worth the money for this class. I was very disappointed and do not feel my time or money was well spent. Wish she had shown a placement of all the various colors to make these flowers and spent time showing some of the layering and sewing of the fabrics together.

Millie Shenton – May 27, 2018:

Absolutely love this class.... so much so, that I bought another one, too. I am running around snapping pictures of flowers to find just the right one to tackle this class. Haven't found just the right one yet, but I can't wait to get started. I am NOT an artist, by any stretch of the imagination, so to find something this cool that is "do-able" for me, is awesome. Thank you, Melinda.…

Robin Maddox – March 23, 2018:

I got a lot from Melinda’s course and it was what I was looking for. Read some poor reviews but felt this course was more about adding threads to your art Quilt rather than painting a picture with threads. She has some excellent tips, explained all the steps well, and I liked her teaching style. Will definitely put what I learned here into my fiber art.

Barbara Marquette – December 22, 2017:

The information Linda has is great and I enjoy her instructions. I am very disappointed with the class however, because after lesson 4 all you see is the top of the machine with Linda speaking and some of the shots of her work are so far off camera you cannot see them. I cannot believe a class would be sold like this. Have emailed and called iquilt regarding this, but had no response. I would …

Excellent class. I'm a newbie with so many questions and EVERYTHING was answered in this class. Loved it.

Carlene Gadberry – May 23, 2017:

Another great class from Belinda, I love her care free approach to thread work, I have watched the class several times.

Carol Kandoll – April 29, 2017:

LOVING your class!!!! I'm watching through videos as I finish another project and I can't wait to get started on this. Great tips!

Elaine Armenta – February 14, 2017:

Linda is my hero! I really love her personality and teaching style. She can make you laugh. I do agree with some other reviewers that the first three lessons were geared totally to absolute beginners and you would think a person doing this complex of a piece of art would be a little more advanced. The rest of the lessons is where the meat of the class begins. Her shadowing and highlighting is…

incrediable. If only we could have seen two hours of her actual working on her quilts. Showing us different flowers, different ways to approach these complex flowers. But even so I was pleased with the part that we did get. If you haven't taken her first class, I recommend that you do. You will not be disappointed. All in all, if you like her quilts I still recommend the class. You do get a better grip on quilting these style of quilts.

I enjoyed this class. I can see where a few have said how basic the information may be but it's the technique alone that I took from the class. I think it was well presented and a great idea to add a lot of texture and detail to your quilt pieces. Her method of using the different shades of a color to create depth is beautiful. The piece you begin with will determine the stitch type you use; strai…

ght, circular, zigzag, etc. I feel like this class gave a great base for an array of ideas. I was motivated to make my own piece after watching her class. A piece of complete "renegade" thread play. Beginning from a base white material and actually using the thread to paint the entire image. This class gave me the idea and confidence to try that.

I feel way too much basic information was included which made this course very boring. Maybe if I had taken Melinda's first class on applique a flower quilt, the quilting part would have been more meaningful. I do not feel just doing straight line or wavy line quilting is very "renegade". I was looking for a lot more thread play. (Creating images from thread)
Such as creating flowers with thr…

ead play not just going over an appliqued piece of fabric. The one piece of information I did like and may use was the quilting of the leaf. The leaf was very pretty when finished. I can see quilting free motion leaves for a different fill-in background. What I mean is creating a leaf with thread not going over an appliqued leaf. I'm not sure when I signed up for this class but I'm sure I watched it after the refund time limit was up. That was a lesson learned.

This class is full of great information for those of us with no formal art training but a good eye for color values. I loved the hints on batting choice and how to manage a quilt with so much thread as the work grows in size. Melinda is great on breaking down a complicated project into small pieces. I really enjoyed this class and Melinda as a teacher. I finished a big project with her techniques …

and won a ribbon in a local quilt show! I look forward to other offerings by this teacher.

Melinda's style is friendly and sweet, but I am disappointed in how basic this class was. There is nothing renegade about straight line fillers, "seed" (AKA pebble), and echo stitches. The quilts are beautiful, but most of the class seemed to be about basic fusing, stitching, and finishing. The idea of covering your sleeve with more stitching is interesting, but I don't know too many quilters w…

ho would take the time for something so complex that would almost never be seen. If this class is typical of iqult classes, I think you could work on a better descriptions of the class so there was less come-on and a better understanding of what was being offered. I doubt I'll return for another class after this experience.

I just love Melinda Bula and her fun teaching technique. I would purchase any class she did. This class is the perfect follow on from her 'FABULOUS FLOWER PHOTO QUILTS' class. I have been a quilter for many years and I was still able learn lots from both of her classes. I love this class, and her style. I now know what to do with the lovely flower quilt I have made from the 1st class. I am a…

visual learner and these IQUILT classes are brilliant. I would highly recommend this class to everyone.